أَلَا يَعْلَمُ مَنْ خَلَقَ وَهُوَ اللَّطِيفُ الْخَبِيرُ Does He who created not know, while He is the Subtle, the Acquainted? (67:14)

God are you there?

In your mind God, there are a million possible worlds you could have created.
Did you not feel it would be best to make the one with the least possible suffering?
Because it does not feel like that is this world.

In our world, there is much needless suffering. Animals who tear each other apart just to fill their tummies. Little children who suffer from bone cancer. Animals who die in forest fires. Earthquakes, tsunamis and floods that devastate lives.

God, was all of this necessary? What do you gain from seeing parents slowly die while a disease destroys their child from the inside?

And then there’s Hell. A torture chamber made to punish souls.
For those who reject you. Why, God?

Oh God, you knew before the creation those destined for the fire.
So why did you make those souls? Why did you let them fail and fall into doom? Would a parent let their child be born if they knew he or she would have a horrible disease that they would suffer from their whole life?

God, if you are the greatest being that ever existed, why would you want to hurt fallible souls who made the wrong decisions? I know I have made many mistakes in my life. What if I got the ultimate decision wrong, do you think I deserve to burn eternally?

Because you know and I know that if I knew hell was real, I would never throw myself in it. Neither myself, nor my kids nor wife. If there was a person standing at my door with a gun and told me to bow down, I would. But isn’t that what you are doing, oh God? Aren’t you pointing a gun at us and saying worship me?

Dear God, if you exist, why did you make a world where most people would reject your chosen religion, whether that’s Islam, Christianity or something else?
If you wanted humanity to know you exist, wouldn’t it be so easy to make us born knowing you are real? But instead you hide from us, leaving us to fallible men who sometimes lie and say you spoke to them.

Clearly you failed your creation. We are not united on the truth. The majority of us disagree whether you exist and who you are. Was this really your plan?

I’m sad, God. This world makes more sense as the result of blind naturalistic forces or powers, not the plan of an intentional being. It’s almost like you don’t exist. Like opportunistic men are using this idea of hell to make us listen to them, work for them, and die for them.

So, I will live the best way I can, God. I will live for myself, for my family, for my country and for humanity. I will live in a way that if you exist, you would be proud of me. Not because I was scared of your hell, but because I cared for others. The way you would, if you really existed.